Starman (1984)
Writers: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon and Dean Riesner
Cast: Jeff Bridges (Starman), Karen Allen (Jenny Hayden), Charles Martin Smith (Mark Shermin), Richard Jaeckel (George Fox), Robert Phalen (Major Bell), Tony Edwards (Sargeant lemon), and David Wells (Fox's Assistant).
In 1977 the Voyager 2 was launched containing a gold, phonographic disk with a message of peace embedded within it and inviting visitors to come to the planet Earth.
The alien ship intercepted the message from the Voyager, the ship's sent out a scout to investigate in response to the invitation. The alien ship is shot down by the US Government , the ship crashes somewhere in Wisconsin. The alien carrying a blue ball survives the incident. Locating a house nearby, the alien approaches it takes a strand of hair from the recently deceased Scott Hayden. The alien body changes into Scott Hayden, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) witnessed the transformation. The body, a mere clone of the original,his senses keen, its mission to observe, understand the human process. The alien, Starman (Jeff Bridges) finds a video of the deceased Scott Hayden. He observes every detail in the video especially the way he expresses himself towards his wife Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen).
Starman using the strange blue ball contacts his home world, arms reaching outward, body levitating, looking up to the stars. The alien in his own language communicates his situation and that the environment is hostile. They send coordinates to the extraction point, a place called Arizona. The alien will need to travel from Wisconsin to Arizona.
The Alien ceases his communication, and finds Jenny (Allen), he must use her as a guide to his destination point. Jenny (Allen) tries to run, but his face, aside from his actions are to close to her former husband. The two characters, Starman (Bridges) and Jenny Hayden (Allen) begin a journey to that is dangerous, both do not trust each other, but along the way, the alien begins to develop some emotions, he tries to understand why? Jenny is afraid of him. They travel, but some how these two characters develop a connection.
The Government and the SETI scientist, Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith) are not to far behind the trail of Starman and Jenny Hayden. Locating the crash site the Government along with SETI, find the clues they need to start a wide spread search, and locate the hostage. Jenny (Allen) had left messages behind, in order to communicate her situation.
Along the way, Jenny Hayden tells the Starman about herself, and her inability to have children, at this point in the story, Hayden and Starman have grown closer together. They managed to outrun the Government, yet again but this time with the help of a SETI scientist which believes Starman isn't hostile.
Starman tells Jenny Hayden about her baby she will have, if she decides to have it, The alien tells her about the child, what he will become, and when he is ready he will know what to do with his knowledge.
The plot summery went a bit longer then i wanted, but who? really cares, i had fun with it. That being said, lets jump right in the core of the story. An alien from the stars finds a space probe, that establishes communication. The government shoots the craft out of the sky. The Starman proceeds to a nearby house, a perfect place to shift into someones dead spouse, here we go another 80's flick. The connection that 1980's films manage to convey on the silver screen is surreal in a way. The fact that an alien shifted into your families home, and somehow you end up helping it to get home is really cool.
John Carpenter directed the film, and i love his films; so please forgive me for being a bit biased. Carpenters magic is really projected in this film; the way only a few characters have the spotlight is his big mo. All the characters have a reason for being on screen. Some filmmakers like to get a huge cast, and some have stupid cameos but Carpenters magic is simple, why? have a character that only has a few lines, pay the actor huge money, for about a minute of screen time. Carpenter uses the actors right, a SETI scientist according to the story didn't have a lot of screen time, which it should go with the story. The director really payed attention, and made the sequences flow. All his films go that way, Halloween (1978), Escape from LA (1996), They Live (1988), The Thing (1982).
The acting in the film was really good, and for its time period this film hits all marks in my opinion. Now as for the special effects, guess what? yes you guessed right, they sucked. Another reason to love 80's flicks, special effects unless the film was a big budget monster aka star wars, you are not going to get quality visuals. But, that's the only problem i really have, and to me the story and the acting are number one, so if the effects are bad, oh well.
what makes guys like me love the 80's, is it nostalgic? what really is the answer, because right now filmmakers are trying to remake old films from that period, the sense of accomplishment is taken away. Why? accomplish something that has already been done, why? not make a film that is beautiful and new, a fresh look. The Star Wars prequels didn't do as well because it did not have that magic and fresh look that the older ones had; the accomplishment was lost. The look was diminished, faded by the desire to beat the older films. The 80's for example, has the Goonies (1985) a huge success, why make a sequel, which by the way is in development. The film was a cinematic genius, it did well because it established a connections throughout the film. Starman like so many 80's movies established a nostalgic pull that will forever be branded into our hearts.
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